The Broken Knife

Jinn peered around the corner, then motioned for Kyla and Reina to follow. They sloshed through water that reached Kyla’s thighs, which made it very difficult to move quietly. Still, they tried, and Kyla supported Reina the ten steps it took to rejoin Raff’s sister.

“Thank you,” Reina murmured, for what must be the fiftieth time. At this point, Kyla wasn’t sure the female was properly conscious, so she might not even realize how many times she’d repeated herself. She seemed to be running on sheer stubborn determination at this point.

“You’re welcome,” Kyla said. Ija and Sika had taught her to be polite to those of high rank, no matter the circumstances, and she thought she and Reina held a similar status among their differing peoples.

On her head, Mei gave a soft squeak. The fuergar had taken refuge there many hours before, since her kind were more inclined to sink than swim, thanks to the metal infusing their bodies. Her fur was wet and matted, which the rodent didn’t seem to mind, but after nearly drowning half a dozen times, she’d chosen to remain out of the water.

Reina’s lips quirked, and she managed to open her red-rimmed eyes just enough to look at Mei. “You, too,” she said softly. Mei bobbed her head, and Kyla wondered if the princess might not be more aware of what was going on than she’d thought.

“There’s a junction ahead. It’s the largest one yet. Maybe it’ll lead to some kind of maintenance shaft?” Jinn whispered, swiping at her forehead with what remained of her sleeve.

All of them had removed as much clothing as possible, including Kyla. She was sad to leave behind the pretty robes, but they were stained and torn, and the closer they got to the incinerator, the hotter the air - and the water - became. The air was so saturated with steam that it was hard to see, though at least that made it far less likely they’d be seen in turn.

“We should go back,” Reina said, a little strength in her voice this time. She was as pale as Lianhua, but her lips were a very unhealthy color of gray. She had suffered far more than the others in their mad tumble through the tunnels before Jinn managed to catch hold of a metal bar in the ceiling and pull the rest of them up after her. They had hung there until the water finally began to recede, but by then they were thoroughly lost, and far too close to where the trash and debris were being burned.

Jinn’s jaw flexed, and she glanced at the grubby bandage over her friend’s wound. Somehow, Kyla had managed to hang onto her pack, and she still had more jejing and some niu-fur cloth that had been protected by the leather and other objects surrounding it. They had cleaned the wound again, repacking it with fresher moss and a cleanish wrapping, but it was clear that Reina wouldn’t get much farther without help.

“There are healers in the college,” Jinn said. “Apprentices, who won’t be involved in this… Whatever is going on. We can convince one of them to heal you.”

“We have money now,” Reina mumbled. “We can pay someone in Cliffcross.”

It was true. Like Mei, coins were heavy enough to sink, but also light enough to be carried by the initial flood. Wherever the ground rose, whether due to changes in diameter or damage, heavy objects gathered. Mei would jump down whenever they reached one of these places, finding so many coins it was becoming difficult to carry them.

Most of them were copper, but there were a few silvers, and even one bright golden disc. Kyla let the fuergar eat a few, but the rodent seemed to understand that they needed them, so she mostly nibbled on buttons, nails, and buckles. Which meant she was the only one of them who wasn’t starving, since the humans had run out of food, and most of Kyla’s things were soaked with contaminated water.

Jinn’s voice was sharp. “We have no idea how to get back to the city.”

Silence fell, and moisture gathered on Reina’s eyelashes, though she refused to let it fall. “I’m sorry,” the princess said. “This is all my-”

“It is not your fault,” Jinn said, reaching out to gather her friend into her arms. This was far from the first time that Reina had claimed responsibility for their situation, though why she thought the rain was her fault, Kyla had no idea.

Kyla’s ears perked as a sound fell into the quiet, rising above the running water. She gave a low, warning yip, pulling on her dwindling power. Sniffing deeply, she growled, “Another.”

Both humans tensed, and Reina flinched, laying one hand over her ribs. She took the other hand off of Kyla’s shoulder and transferred her weight to the damp wall as Jinn stepped away and drew her knife. The female had had the presence of mind to strap it into its sheath before the water swept them away, which was a very good thing, because the three of them weren’t alone in the sewers.

“Stone lizard?” Reina asked, looking around the corner, then back at the tunnel behind them. The passages were so interconnected that the beasts could appear from almost anywhere, even somewhere they had just cleared.

Kyla nodded. There had been a few salamanders, but being submerged in water was very bad for them. By this time, their skin only flickered feebly, and they moved so slowly that even Reina probably could have killed one, though so far she hadn’t needed to fight. The stone lizards, on the other hand, couldn’t care less if they were wet, though there were a few drowned ones lodged in crevices along the way.

The kobold closed her eyes, concentrating on the scents surrounding them. The majority of the more disgusting debris had been washed away at the beginning of the deluge, leaving cleaner water behind. Everything still stank, however, and figuring out what was close by and what was lingering stench was difficult.

Kyla wrinkled her muzzle. “Two? Maybe?”

Jinn nodded, settling into a crouch. She and Kyla both turned their backs on Reina, keeping the injured female in the middle, where they could protect her. Mei leaped from Kyla’s head, clinging to the stone wall with iron-strong claws.

The first lizard came from behind them, emerging from the darkness as it swam forward, then dove beneath the surface. That was the worst of it. The water was deep enough that they could easily lose track of the things, and Kyla would have lost a paw at least twice-over if she hadn’t had her shield.

Plunging her hands into the water, Kyla grabbed at the creature as Mei threw herself into the water. The fuergar’s brightly furred back rose up, then down again, and Kyla could see that she’d sunk her long teeth into the base of the monster’s back, near where body connected to tail.

Kyla’s claws caught at something as the lizard turned to bite at Mei. Instantly, she dug them in, pushing power ahead of them and releasing it directly into the beast’s tough flesh. Normal power bolts weren’t enough, but from this distance, it worked. The creature raised its head from the water, and she saw that she’d created a long gouge in its shoulder, which bled black into the water.

Now that her target was exposed, Kyla released her grip and grabbed at the lizard’s throat, forcing out another burst of power. This one wasn’t as strong, but it didn’t have to be. The throat tore away, and the lizard sank again, this time for good. Mei scrambled along its body, returning to Kyla, who reached out to embrace her.

Turning, she saw that Jinn was dispatching the other creature. This one was a little bigger than the one Kyla had fought, but Jinn’s blade was far better for the purpose than Kyla’s claws. This body, too, sank, then bobbled beneath the surface, rotating to float belly up.

“We should eat them,” Kyla said, not for the first time.

Eating raw meat was a sign of weakness, since any female with power could cook her meal. It could lead to illness. But she was starving, unable to recover her power as quickly as she should, and she needed to conserve every bit. Surely the humans, too, needed to eat, no matter the source?

As always, Reina and Jinn shook their heads. Jinn scrubbed her hands and weapon free of blood, then said, “We’ll be out soon. I’m sure of it.”

Out, perhaps, but who was to say if that would actually be an improvement? Better to eat now, while they could. Kyla gave the bobbing corpses a thoughtful look. Next time, she would eat.

They moved forward and downward, following the flow of the water. Before she fell into this barely-responsive state, Reina told them that there was a way to shut down the incinerator in an emergency. The mana routed through a huge gemstone, and if that was removed, the system would shut down. As far as she knew, no one had ever actually had to do it, but the royal family knew it could be done, just in case.

The question was, how did they turn that to their advantage? After all, they were most definitely on the wrong side of the incinerator to be able to access it. That meant one of them would have to try passing through the flames.

The obvious person to do that was Kyla, who had read all of her ancestors’ books and studied to handle the Deep forges since she proved she had enough power. Of course, she wasn’t actually very good at it yet, and she’d already used up a great deal of her power, but she was sure she could do it if she just ate and rested for a while first. After all, how hot could this incinerator be, compared to forges fueled by magma and able to melt adamantium?

Not that she’d mentioned any of this to Jinn and Reina. It had taken several small skirmishes for Jinn to stop trying to protect her as if she was as weak as a puppy. Even the princess had attempted to summon enough power to attack a salamander who was behind Kyla, not realizing that Kyla had already dismissed the weak, injured reptile as an immediate threat. It was cute, really, that the clawless, practically toothless humans thought they needed to protect a kobold.

Kyla grimaced as she stepped forward again. The water was almost uncomfortably warm now, and she was beginning to feel like a chunk of fuergar meat tossed into a stew. If it got too much hotter, the humans would have to stop while Kyla went ahead. It would take even more power to protect her legs from the heat, but there was no way the other two females could handle it if she couldn’t.

A high-pitched whistle reached her ears, like steam escaping from a tight pot lid. It sounded closer than she liked. She’d thought they had more time before the water reached the boiling stage. Unless the incinerator was just ahead, and not nearly as hot as she’d been told?

The whistle stopped, then started again, almost sounding like-

Kyla lifted her muzzle and howled. Not loud, but loud enough. Another whistle, this one strident and even more shrill, reached her ears. Beside her, Jinn jerked, her head turning, eyes searching.

“What is that?” the female muttered, just as a small creature flew into sight, a tiny light orb hovering ahead of it.

Jinn pulled her knife in a swift, well-practiced movement, but Kyla was already hurrying forward. The heat of the water was forgotten as she reached out her arms, and a small gold dragon settled into them. Mei hurried down to Kyla’s shoulder, stretching out her quivering pink nose to sniff at Li.

The dragon was the worse for wear, but none of her injuries looked serious. There were patches of darkened scales lifting away from small blisters on her belly, and a tear in the membrane stretched across one wing, but the dragon looked more angry than frightened. She puffed cool water vapor as she clicked and whistled, and the moisture felt quite pleasant on Kyla’s body.

Kyla shook her head, yipping sharply at the dragon. “Stop!”

Li stopped, eyes wide and shocked.

Kyla’s tail wagged, fur dragging heavily through the water. “Where did you come from? Is Kaz here, too?”

Li let out an aggrieved hiss, and Kyla again enjoyed the refreshing fog. At the end of her complaint, the dragon shook her head.

“Oh,” Kyla said sadly, ears drooping, then perking back up. “Is he on the way? Is Lianhua with him? Or, um, Raff?”

“Raff?” A voice came from behind her, and Kyla turned, seeing that Jinn was still standing there with her blade bared. It wasn’t quite pointing at Kyla and Li, but it wasn’t not either.

Kyla nodded. “Li is my cousin Kaz’s dragon. She and Kaz can talk to each other, even when they’re not together.” She was actually very proud of her succinct explanation. She’d been told more than once that her stories tended to ramble, but this was the kind of situation that called for clarity. Then she realized she’d left out something important, and added, “The last time I saw Kaz, he was with Raff.”

Jinn’s mouth was hanging open, and even Reina looked like she was actually paying attention. The princess’s eyes were on Li, and she couldn’t seem to decide if she should be frightened or awed.

“That’s… actually a dragon,” Jinn said flatly. “Not a wyvern?”

Kyla tilted her head. “What’s a wyvern?”

Jinn pointed a finger. “Not. That.”

That was a very unhelpful response, so Kyla just shrugged and looked back at Li. “Is Raff here?”

The dragon shook her head. No.

“Lianhua?”

Another no.

“Chi Yincang?”

A slow shake.

Kyla was beginning to get a very bad feeling. “Are you… alone?” she asked.

Li turned her gaze pointedly from Kyla to Mei. Kyla’s stomach fell into her paws. “Just us?” she asked.

Li nodded.

Well, that was quite a bit less helpful than she’d hoped. But Jinn and Reina had come up beside her as she interrogated the dragon, and now Jinn said, “Can that thing really understand you?”

Li hissed, and Kyla felt the fur on the back of her neck rise slightly. The dragon wasn’t very strong yet, but she was intelligent, and, just maybe, she was also Kyla’s friend.

“Of course she can,” Kyla said staunchly.

Jinn hesitated, then drew in a deep breath. Looking at the dragon, she said, “Do you know the way out?”

Li nodded, whistling happily.